For example, although I adore cocoa-based treats and have been making my own truffles for a long time now, it wasn't until last week that I prepared my first moulded chocolates. The reason for being a total virgin in that field is because I lack confidence and constantly denigrate my talents, I have always shied away from that exercise as I found it quite intimidating and I believed it was too technical for me./// Bien que j'adore les gourmandises à base de cacao et que je fabrique mes propres truffes depuis longtemps, je n'ai préparé mes premiers chocolats moulés que dernièrement. Comme je manque de confiance et dénigre constamment mes capacités, j'ai toujours évité d'en faire car cette activité m'intimidait et j'imaginais que c'était trop technique pour moi.

As I'm a big fan of praline paste and wanted to create my own shaped chocolate tidbits, I opted for making Rosalba's "Praline Chocolates". Being the squirrel that I am, my pantry contains tons of quality Swiss dark chocolate that I maniacally stock as if I were awaiting my building block to be taken by siege, I decided to sacrifice a few grams precious war provisions and substitute it for the milk chocolate her recipe calls for. I didn't use couverture chocolate either since I would not even know where to buy in Geneva (unlike, France, England or the US we have no stores specialised in bakery items and everything you find is basic, like a relic of the 60's and so outdated).

Anyway, the result was highly satisfying and my chocolates turned out really pretty. Tempering the chocolate was easy peasy as the whole process was straight-forward,fuss-free and rapid. I had lots of fun playing around in my kitchen and imagining that I was an artisan "chocolatier". As a matter of fact, this experience was so positive that I am considering purchasing material on the internet in order to learn more about this art and expand my knowledge...

The dainty "Praline Chocolates" I put together were shiny, very enjoyable and had a pleasant creamy as well as melt-in-the-mouth texture. The nutty and caramelly flavors blended perfectly well with the intense and slight bitter taste of my 60% cocoa chocolate.

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Like any other Christian country, Switzerland has many great celebrations at this moment of the year (though nobody should forget that before it was Christianized, Easter was a Pagan festival celebrating the spring equinox) even if my country is not only politically neutral, but it is also confessionally neutral, and nowadays most people are not too observant and care more for the festivities than for the religious obsevances. I find that it is something good since that leaves us the choice to follow whichever path we desire (I have no oficial religion myself), but unfortunately, as a result, Easter has become a shallow commemoration which is now extremely commercial and totally deprived of any meaning (stores already start selling decorations as well as candies way already in February)...

Anyway, it didn't stop me from loving Easter when I was a kid as I considered it to a kind of second Xmas. You see, where I live it is the custom to offer children chocolate bunnies of all shapes and flavors, colored sugar eggs, a bit of money and spring-themed stuffed toys, whereas adults generally receive chocolate boxes, bottles of wine or flowers.It is also the tradition forClose-knit families to gather on Easter Sunday and spend some time together around a lovely meal comprising of asparagus (white, green or wild), dandelion salad,eggs (hard-boiled or mimosa), lamb (leg, shoulder or fillet), young goat, fish (smoked or fresh salmon), meat terrines ("Pâtés en Croûte"), cheeses of all sorts, "Chocolate Mousse", "Floating Islands", "Rice Tart", "Rhubarb Tart", "Meringues"or "Salée A La Crème" (and much more depending on the canton where you live - I am only describing what I have experienced in Vaud and Geneva so bear with me if I have forgotten something. I am in no way trying to pass for the leading authority on that subject...).

When I was small, my parents and I had the habit of reuniting with the rest of our Swiss relatives from Vaud and my grandparents' home was the nevralgic center of all our activities. Regardless of the weather which could prove to be quite fierce (April showers/soakers & strong and piercing Northern wind) depending on how early Easter was, after lunch we would go out for a walk around the fields and then we would stop somewhere in order to roll my granny's herb/flower stenciled eggs down the meadow's banks. Me and my second cousins had a blast doing that. We ran around the place like Tasmanian devils, screamed similarly to howler monkeys and frantically tumbled on the lush grass. Those were happy days of insouciance. Oh, how I miss that and mourns the times when my grandparents were still alive and the family was not in war...

Then, after having dirtied our clothes, spent all our energy running after one another, having got a suntan, enjoyed the birds' frantic tweets and admired the joyously green landscapes, we headed back to my Mémé and Pépé's house. Our stomachs were beginning to rumble, so my grandfather and grandmother usually got busy in the kitchen. Since we had tons of cracked as well as exploded eggs left from the rolling and we had already eaten a banquet a few hours before, it was a custom for us to eat an evening dinner consisting of a delightfully palatable, refined, yet humble dandelion (hand picked by my grandfather) salad with speck (Swiss smoked bacon), hard-boiled egg, chopped onion and peppery vinaigrette. To conclude our meal, my grandmother treated us to a comforting mug of chicory café au lait (coffee milk). Just heavenly!

Those are truely precious memories. I am so glad that I have been able to experience these idyllic times and get a glimpse of how life in the countryside was in the past, before the frenzy of our modern world took over the normal course of things...

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If you are looking for other Easter menu ideas, please have a look at my extensive list of festive dishes. I hope you'll find something interesting and that it will help you have a more stress-free holiday...

Method:1. Put 2/3 of the chocolate in a bowl and make it melt over a casserole using the bain-marie method (the bowl should not touch the bottom of the pan).2. Stir with a spatula until the chocolate has completely melted.3. Measure the temperature. It should reach 45° C (108 ° F) for dark chocolate and 40°-45° C (104°-108° F) for milk chocolate.4 . Remove the bowl from the bain-marie and add the 1/3 of the chocolate that is left.5. Place the bowl containing the melted chocolate into another bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes. Stir with a spatula to cool.6. Measure the temperature again. It should reach 27 °C (81° F) for dark chocolate and 23°-25° C (73°-77° F) for milk chocolate.7 . As soon as the chocolate has reached the desired temperature, put the bowl back over the bain-marie in order to make the temperature rise again and reach 32° C (90° F) for dark chocolate and 29°-30° C (84°-86° F) for milk chocolate. Stir gently with a spatula and incorporate the praline paste.8. Pour the chocolate into the moulds and gentlytap to release any trapped air bubbles.9. Place the moulds in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, then using a scraper carefully scrape the excess chocolate from the top of the moulds.10. Once again, place the moulds in the refrigerator and leave them there for about 1 hour.11. Delicately, unmolds the chocolates.

Remarks:Couverture chocolate is the only chocolate that can be tempered as it's made specially for that purpose, but you can use any cooking chocolate as long as you chop it finely before you melt it (follow the same method as described previously).You can also omit using praline paste and incorporate spices (cinnamon, cloves, coriander, curry, tonka, etc...) or finely chopped dried/candied fruits (apricots, cranberries, candied ginger, etc...) instead.The chocolates can be kept for a week in an air-tight box, in a cool place.There are a multitude of elegant ways to serve those chocolates (in boxes, jars, crystal/glass bowls, on large serving platters…).

Serving suggestions:Do you really need me to tell you how to eat those chocolates? No! I thought so...Just don't overstuff yourself or you'll feel queasy!

I've promised my mom I'd make chocolate with her for Easter, but I was looking for something more interesting than just molding plain chocolate. This recipe has exactly the level of funkyness I was looking for, thank you!

I love Easter a lot because of the memories of getting together too. It is spring time, lots of fresh new vegetables, like artichokes, and wild herbs, and especially lunch at my grandparents. I'd better get cooking....

Rosa:tres jolie! I used to make lots of chocolates, so I know how hard it is to make them so perfect looking: great work. And the praline filling is perfect with chocolate. Hope you had a happy Easter.BTW, always love your photo collages, bring in a bit of non food world in your blog!